


White Cup

by Theamazingarmadillo



Series: just seems right [1]
Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: Claire Browne and Neil Melendez, F/M, Fluff, Melendaire, Neil Melendez Lives, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:01:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29294850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theamazingarmadillo/pseuds/Theamazingarmadillo
Summary: Claire had known for a day.She hadn’t told anyone. Though, she should probably tell Neil. She knew that he would be one hundred percent supportive, it just wouldn’t be like him to not be.
Relationships: Claire Browne/Neil Melendez
Series: just seems right [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151492
Comments: 20
Kudos: 26





	White Cup

Claire had known for a day. 

She hadn’t told anyone. Though, she should probably tell Neil. She knew that he would be one hundred percent supportive, it just wouldn’t be like him to not be. 

The first signs were pretty subtle. 

Claire woke to a light breeze on the back of her neck from the window that had been left open the night before. She turned in the arms that surrounded her and leaned into her boyfriend's chest. 

She closed her eyes once more, to try and get an extra few minutes in bed soaking up the heat. Just as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep, she heard the blaring alarm coming from Neil’s phone. She had forgotten that he had work at five in the morning today, while she left later at ten. 

She groaned as he moved to turn off the alarm and she promptly moved to cover her bare shoulders from the summer breeze. 

Neil must have noticed her movement because he leaned over and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. 

“Sorry” he mumbled, his voice ruff with sleep. She just grumbled as she moved into his now vacant, but warm, side of the bed, Not opening her eyes. 

She heard a stifle of laugh that must have come from the man that was shaking his head disapprovingly above her. 

“You would steal my grave just as quick” he chuckled. 

It had been two years after the earthquake, and they could finally joke comfortably about death without it being a sensitive subject. 

Claire ignored him and tried to get comfortable in the bed once again. She heard the placement of feet on the wooden floor and their shared closet door opening. It was still for a few seconds before more pitter-patter of feet and the ensuite door opening, followed by the sound of the shower starting filled her ears. 

Claire ignored the rest of the sounds and slowly fell back into her previous rest.  
The next thing she knew was the sound of another alarm going off beside her ear. She lifted her head, golden, frizzy curls standing up all over the place as she stretched to her nightstand to feel for her phone. 8:00, two hours to get up and to get up and head to Bonaventure in time for her shift. 

She lazily sat up in bed, turning off her alarm and standing up. She still felt unbelievably exhausted but it was probably put down to the fact that she had worked a 24 hour shift the previous day. But she had just slept for a good twelve hours. 

She just shrugged it off and got into the shower and changed into some comfortable clothes before heading downstairs. She got to the last step and could smell eggs and bacon that Neil had cooked when he got up. She couldn’t believe that he was such a big romantic, even after one and a half years of dating and five months of living together it still surprised her. 

Normally, they would have breakfast together. But if Neil had to get up before her he would make breakfast for them both and leave a plate in the microwave and vise versa. But today she felt sick as she caught a wave of the greasy smell, which did not help with her previous fatigue. Maybe she was coming down with something?

Instead of going into the kitchen to try and get away from the smell, she went into the sitting room and sat down on the arm of the armchair and took her phone out of her pocket to see if she had gotten any messages and to check how long she had left before she should leave. 

Her eyes happened to skim over the top of her phone and she noticed the date… the 14 of August, exactly twelve days after she was meant to get her period. She had all the signs that she should be getting it soon, tender, swollen breasts and mild cramps in her stomach. She had just thought that it was coming soon, but twelve days late? That was odd. 

Pregnancy quickly popped into her mind, but she pushed that out quickly. They weren't perfect, but they had been careful. Her mind raced as she tried to find something to tell her that she was overreacting but all she could think about was how tired she was and that god awful smell coming from the kitchen. 

She looked down at her phone once again, it was a quarter to nine. She had an hour and fifteen minutes to get to the shop and come back in time for work. She got up and got her keys before promptly leaving the house. 

No more than thirty minutes later, Claire came back to the house with a small cardboard box in hand. She dropped the key of the hall table and climbed the stairs to see if her gut instinct was right or wrong. 

She sat on the edge of her bed, staring off into the distance while she waited for the results to come back. She knew that Neli wanted kids, he had talked about it even before they started dating. He had said that growing up with his sister had been the best years of his life and that he would always go on family holidays and enjoy summers together. But Claire had it very different, quite the opposite actually. She was so scared that she would mess up and it made it so much worse that she knew the feeling, from a child's point of view, how it felt when a parent messed up. But she couldn’t deny the fact that a very small part of her, deep down inside wished that the test came back positive. She had always wanted a happy childhood, one filled with laughter and joy and the thought that she could give her child just that. 

Claire slowly pulled herself out of her thoughts, and looked down at her phone. It had been eight minutes already, she knew that she should wait at least ten for the most reliable results but she didn't think that she could stand another second in her head. 

She slowly got up from the bed, being cautious of her pounding head and headed off into the bathroom. Slowly and cautiously, she picked up the stick that was laying on the bathroom counter. She took one deep breath and looked down at the window on the test. 

Two lines. 

Pregnant. 

She knew that she should get tested in the hospital but she was pretty certain at this point.

Surprisingly, out of the emotions that she was previously feeling, joy was the strongest one. All she had to do now was to tell Neil. 

That was yesterday. 

She hadn't gotten around to telling Neil because he had come home pretty early in the morning after an almost 24 hour shift and barely made it up the stairs before collapsing into bed and falling asleep. 

She had a plan to tell him today though, when they got home. They were heading back to the house together today, so she didn’t have anytime to get something together in time. So before work she made a quick pitstop in a Dollar Tree to get a few supplies. 

She had known that he really wanted a child, and she wanted to make it special for him instead of just telling him with words. She found that actions held much more passion than words ever could. 

They had gotten home at about four, Neil pulling up the driveway a few seconds before Claire. They both got out of their cars and Neil stuck his tongue out at her because he had won their race home. She just rolled her eyes but she couldn't help the smile that was plastered onto her face. 

He opened the door and they both walked in, kicking off their shoes and dropping their work bags on the bench beside the door. Neil turned to her and wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her head.

Even after Claire’s residency ended at Bonaventure and she moved from under his surgery team over to Audrey’s team in trauma, even after they openly told everyone about their relationship, they still didn't lean towards PDA at the hospital. So when they got home they liked to give each other all the love that they had kept for each other during the day. 

Claire lifted her head and reached to kiss him, he happily complied and deepened the kiss further. Just as he started to get handsy, she pushed him away with a cocky smile. 

He just stood in the hallway and pouted, she placed one more kiss on his lips but didn't let it go anywhere. She knew that he would soon be thankful that she didn't let it go anywhere as his life would change in the next few minutes. 

Claire had wanted to wait to tell him until after dinner but she didn't think that she could wait any longer. 

“Go sit down on the couch” she told him, still smirking at his sad expression. 

His face quickly changed from a sad schoolboy denied his first kiss into a questioning look, with an eyebrow raised. 

“Why?” he asked. 

She just shook her head. “Go do it, and you will find out” she said as she headed up the stairs. 

She went to their bedroom and opened the closet door, going in and coming back out with a medium sized, square box. 

She went down the stairs and looked over the banisters to see him looking up at her from where he sat on the couch. She gave him a sly smile as she got to the last step. She went into the sitting room and sat down beside her boyfriend. She fiddled with the box in her hand, bringing Neil’s attention down to her hands. He looked back at her with confusion. 

It was now or never she told herself. Without any context, she handed him the box. He looked even more confused as he took it, but he gathered that she wished for him to open it. 

Slowly, he opened the box. He didn't know why he was so on edge, it was just a box. When he opened it and looked inside he could see a white coffee cup. He looked up at Claire, who only gave him a nod of approval. 

He placed his hand carefully around the piece of delph and took it out. It was a plain white cup with three words painted on in black. 

Worlds Best Dad

He couldn't think clearly. Was she telling him what he thought she was telling him? A piece of paper at the bottom of the box caught his attention, he took it out and read ‘im pregnant’. 

He quickly turned to Claire, tears in his eyes that he had not noticed had formed. He looked up with the most questioning and adoring eyes and she nodded in response. That was all he needed. 

He leaned over and embraced her in the most loving hug. He pulled back from her and looked at her through teary eyes and kissed her once again. 

They slowly broke apart but kept their foreheads together. 

Claire looked into her boyfriend's eyes and said with the most amount of love she could, “I love you so much Neil, and you are going to make the world's best dad.” 

He laughed tearfully. “I love you too. And you are going to be a wonderful mom.” 

Claire knew in that moment that she chose right. Whatever decisions she came to in life she had chosen right. Because in this moment, she was looking in the eyes of the person she loved most. With her whole life ahead of her, she got to spend it with him.


End file.
